"Look how detached we are in this town, which is like an island in the
middle of the sea. We behave as though we had no past lives, and never
expected any future. Especially you."

"Especially I?"

"You behave as though I was born the day before you met me, and would
die the day after you leave me. You never ask anything about me; you
tell me nothing about yourself. We might be a couple of stars hanging in
mid air shining at each other. And then I have the feeling that one
might drop and the other wouldn't know where to look for it."

But after a little silence the truth burst out, and he said with
despair: "Don't you want to know _anything_ about me?"

(Yes, that was all very well. She did, she did. But not just this that
was coming!)

And then he told her....

* * * * *

"What is she like ... Violette?"

"Fair."

After several low questions she seemed to stand between them like a
child, thin and fair, delicate and silent, innocently expecting to be
spared all pain.